Automation Could Eliminate 73 Million U.S. Jobs By 2030

The rapid evolution of AI and robots could eliminate 73 million American jobs by 2030, according to a new report from the McKinsey Global Institute. The research notes that those losses could be offset by an increase in productivity, economic growth and other factors. However, maintaining full employment is likely to be highly challenging as the economy and labor market would require massive overhauls.

Midpoint automation could lead to 39 million U.S. job losses by 2030 while rapid automation could cost 73 million. Despite the potential losses, however, about 20 million displaced people could be shifted into similar jobs where they could tackle slightly different tasks. Still, a significant share would have to be retrained completely in the U.S. and many other developed countries. McKinsey reported that a third of the 2030 workforce in the U.S. might need to be retrained, as well as nearly half of Japan's.

Rapid automation could also cost China and India 236 and 120 million jobs respectively by 2030. In Japan, the worst case scenario would see 30 million losses. Mexico could have 18 million displaced workers by then while Germany could have 17 million. The jobs most threatened by automation tend to be physical and predictable with examples including workers in the fast food sector or machinery operators. The safest jobs are generally less predictable, including managers, engineers, scientists, teachers and plumbers.